British Women Give Testimonies In Peru Drug Case

Two British women who pleaded guilty to charges of drug trafficking in Peru left court on Tuesday (October 01) after reportedly revealing details of their alleged involvement in a multi-national trafficking operation to prosecutors.

Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum Connolly were arrested at Peru's airport in mid-August.

The two women pleaded guilty to charges of drug trafficking earlier last week. By pleading guilty, lawyers and family members were hopeful they would be eligible for a lighter sentence of around six years and eight months.

But chief prosecutor Juan Mendoza Abarca said the guilty pleas were not enough to ensure a swift end to their trial.

McCollum Connolly, of Dungannon in Northern Ireland, and Reid, from near Glasgow in Scotland, were arrested at Lima airport in August after 11 kg (24 lb) of cocaine worth 1.5 million pounds was found in their luggage, according to authorities.

The women, both 20, had spent the summer working in bars on Ibiza. They said they had been forced to become drug mules by an armed gang and travelled to Peru under duress.